Purpose

To consolidate, disseminate, and gather information concerning the 710 expansion into our San Rafael neighborhood and into our surrounding neighborhoods. If you have an item that you would like posted on this blog, please e-mail the item to Peggy Drouet at pdrouet@earthlink.net

Monday, September 30, 2013

A couple of photos and tips on safety when accessing center platforms on Blue, Expo and Gold Lines

First, a big thank you to readers and media for their interest and articles last week about Metro’s efforts to reduce suicides, particularly along the Blue Line, the agency’s longest and busiest light rail line.

That said, the week ended badly when on Friday evening a man was
killed when he walked into the path of a southbound Blue Line train at
the Vernon station. The incident remains under investigation but Metro
has confirmed that the crossing gates, warning lights and bells were
working.

As it happens I spent some time along the Blue Line corridor last
week shooting photographs for Metro, including the two above that were
taken at the Vernon station.

The point of the top photo: the Blue Line trains are big, heavy and
long — and they pass within feet of the entrance and exit to the train
platform that sits between the Blue Line’s southbound and northbound
tracks.

The second photo was taken to illustrate the difficulty in gauging
distances along the Blue Line, which features long, straight sections of
track. You may think the train is still far and you have time to get
across the tracks. But you may be wrong with deadly consequences.

After watching people come and go to and from the station, I think
there are three easy things everyone can do that would help improve
safety:

1. Take off your headphones.

2. Put your phone in your pocket.

3. Keep your head on a swivel.

I saw several people walking to or from the platform staring at their
phones and not even looking up despite the presence of traffic on
Vernon Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard and two sets of train tracks —
for the Blue Line and for Union Pacific freight trains.

Metro’s safety ambassador has a neat little trick: he stands in the
path of those folks staring at their phones, forcing them to look up or
walk into him.

Please be careful, everyone. The Blue Line, Gold Line and Expo Line
all have platforms in the center of the tracks. They can work fine — but
like many other things in life, they do require your full attention in
order for everyone to get where they are going safely.